Jonny Retrofit Posted January 7 Posted January 7 The HVAC blower supplied is a new design which replaces the factory heater only blower. It has the following features. 1. Modern heater core 2. Modern A/C evaporator (parallel flow type) 3. Heater shutoff valve (when in A/C mode) 4. Servo operated temperature blending. No more cables! 5. Servo operated fresh air valve 6. High performance blower fan.
Jonny Retrofit Posted January 7 Author Posted January 7 These instructions show a right hand drive vehicle. The left hand drive install is largely the same, except on the other side of the vehicle and mirrored. 1a. Firstly remove the existing heater blower unit from the vehicle. After this is done, have a clean up of the area where the blower sits, paying particular care to ensure the surface around the bulkhead aperture is smooth and flat. If it is very rough you may need to use filler to fill the gaps and then sand it smooth. 1b. The new blower provides a recirculation function which requires a hole to be cut in the angled 'shelf'. Remove any trim from the inside of the vehicle above the passenger foot area. 1c. Print out the cutting template on paper DEFENDER Bulkhead Cutting Template for Recirc Inlet Hole - CRM-800-ECO-P-10188-B1-.pdf(change the print scaling to achieve a true 1:1 print and check it's size matches the reference dimensions). Cut out the template. 1d. Fit the new blower unit's lower mounting plate using nuts and bolts through the original heater mounting holes in the (RHD) orientation shown below, leaving the bolts loose and apply the Cutting Template over the mounting plate in the orientation shown. Adjust the lower mounting plate's position so that the edge of the cutting template (arrowed) is aligned to the outboard edge of the existing bulkhead blower aperture (arrowed). Tighten the nuts and bolts holding the lower mount plate in this position. (NOTE: For the LHD installation the same template is used, however it is flipped over AND it is the notch in the template and not the side of it which is aligned to the side of the bulkhead aperture. The cutting template is marked up to show this). 1e. Mark the centre of the hole on the bulkhead using the template, and drill the hole using a 102mm/ 4inch hole saw. Deburr the edge of the hole. 1f. Offer up the recirc air aperture bezel to the inside of the passenger footwell and drill the 3 holes for the self tapping screws. 2. Clean the area around the original bulkhead blower outlet aperture and fit the foam gasket around it.
Jonny Retrofit Posted January 7 Author Posted January 7 3. The blower unit is shipped with it's fan removed so it will need assembling; slot it into it's bottom mounting plate in the orientation shown in the image above, and fix in place with the three M4 flanged nuts. Offer up the blower unit into the engine bay with the fan sliding under the fender. If necessary the fan can be placed in first and slid under the fender, followed by the blower unit next to it, and then attach the fan to the blower unit. Make sure that the yellow temperature sensor is fed through the new recirc hole into the cabin under the fan. 4. Cable tie the sensor onto it's seat inside the grille and fit the grille, pull the excess wiring back through into the engine bay.
Jonny Retrofit Posted January 7 Author Posted January 7 5. Move the blower into position and attach the fresh air inlet to the inlet duct under the fender, secure the duct with cable ties or if you prefer you can use a Jubilee clip. Put the flanged bolts loosely into the lower fixing L-bracket to hold the blower in place. 6. Attach the top bracket to the exsiting holes on the bulkhead. Use the M8 rubber washers against the bulkhead, 7. Fit the screws through the bracket into both sides of the blower. Fit loosely at this stage. 8. Now that the blower is roughly in position, it can be adjusted for fitment using the side and lower screws. The most important thing is that the air outlet seals against the foam gasket surrounding the hole in the bulkhead. 9. Connect the cylinder head spigots to the blower unit with the coolant hose supplied, fix the hose to the cylinder head spigots using the original Jubilee clips. Bleed the heater as per original factory instructions. Top up coolant level as required. 10. Fit the expansion valve block to the evaporator on the front of the blower unit, using the M5 x 45mm Socket Cap Head Screws provided. 11. Fit the 8mm ID drain tubes to the drain spigots at the bottom of the blower and secure with small cable tie. Cut them to the length required for your installation. When the system is commissioned, switch on the fan and test for air leaks at the front bulkhead. Adjust the blower position to minimise air leaks when the fan is running. Often the blower needs pushing up/back against the bulkhead while an assistant tightens the screws. It is very important to get air leakage to a minimum here, if necessary you can add a second foam gasket around the bulkhead aperture.
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